Mylan CEO to Defend EpiPen Price Increase Before Congress

Mylan Pharmaceuticals CEO Heather Bresch is expected to defend her company’s increase in EpiPen pricing when she testifies before Congress tomorrow by maintaining that the company simultaneously expanded access to the emergency allergy medication, according to an advanced copy of her remarks obtained by ABC News.

“Price and access exist in a balance, and we believe we have struck that balance,” Bresch's prepared remarks to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee say. “With the current focus on pricing, I'm very concerned that the access part of the equation is being minimized.”

Mylan has come under intense criticism for the increase in price of its signature EpiPen product, a portable auto-injecting device for emergency treatment of severe allergic reactions. The price of a two-pack of EpiPens has risen from approximately $100 in 2009 to around $600, according to medical literature and various pharmacies around the nation.

Bresch will note that Mylan’s record “isn’t perfect,” but that the company has done a “tremendous amount of good, particularly in schools," with Mylan having provided hundreds of thousands of EpiPens to multiple schools across America without any financial stipulations, the copy of her remarks says.